Terasen's plans for a call-centre in Prince George will go ahead after the the natural gas provider agreed to the B.C. Utilitiies Commission conditions for approval.
The Vancouver-based utility made the announcement this afternoon.
Three months ago, Terasen revealed it had an agreement with Initiatives Prince George, the city's economic development agency, to purchase the former ACS call centre building on Second Avenue. It's where the gas utility is proposing to locate its own 100-person unionized call centre, part of a $115.5-million project to bring much of its customer service business back within the company.
Initiatives Prince George has received a non-refundable $200,000 deposit on the $2.35 million purchase price for the Second Avenue building, with the deal set to close at the end of June. "We're all systems go," said Initiatives Prince George CEO Tim McEwan.
Two weeks ago, the B.C. Utilities Commission had denied Terasen's proposed project.
However, the decision, did allow the project to go ahead if Terasen Gas agreed that if the final cost of the project is 10 per cent less or greater than $115.5 million, the additional costs or savings will be shared equally between itself and its ratepayers.
Terasen Gas also had to agree to file quarterly progress reports with the utilities commission that would detail differences in timing of the project's schedule, costs and any difficulties the project may be encountering.
The company also had to agree to file a copy of its board of director's resolution approving the project prior to work starting.
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